End-point media watermarking

ABSTRACT

Apparatus, systems, methods, and articles of manufacture related to end-point media watermarking are disclosed. An example device includes a media receiver to receive a media signal, a watermark generator to generate a watermark, a trigger to activate the watermark generator to generate the watermark based on an external input, an encoder to encode the media signal with the watermark to synthesize an encoded media signal, a media output to render the encoded media signal.

This patent arises from a continuation of U.S. Pat. Application No.16/405,130, which was filed on May 07, 2019. U.S. Pat. Application No.16/405,130 is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.Priority to U.S. Pat. Application No. 16/405,130 is hereby claimed.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to media watermarking, and, moreparticularly, to end-point media watermarking.

BACKGROUND

Media, such as a television broadcast, may be encoded with watermarksthat, when detected, are decoded to identify the media that waspresented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example environment and system for end-point mediawatermarking that includes example media watermarking devices inaccordance with the teachings of this disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one of the example media watermarkingdevices of FIG. 1 constructed in accordance with the teachings of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructionswhich may be executed to implement the example media watermarkingdevices of FIGS. 1 and 2 .

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example processing platform structuredto execute the instructions of FIG. 3 to implement the example mediawatermarking devices of FIGS. 1 and 2 .

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example processing platform structuredto execute the instructions to implement the example meters of FIGS. 1and 2 .

The figures are not to scale. In general, the same reference numberswill be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying writtendescription to refer to the same or like parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Descriptors “first,” “second,” “third,” etc. are used herein whenidentifying multiple elements or components which may be referred toseparately. Unless otherwise specified or understood based on theircontext of use, such descriptors are not intended to impute any meaningof priority, physical order, or arrangement in a list, or ordering intime but are merely used as labels for referring to multiple elements orcomponents separately for ease of understanding the disclosed examples.In some examples, the descriptor “first” may be used to refer to anelement in the detailed description, while the same element may bereferred to in a claim with a different descriptor such as “second” or“third.” In such instances, it should be understood that suchdescriptors are used merely for ease of referencing multiple elements orcomponents.

Audience measurement entities (AMEs) desire knowledge on how usersinteract with media devices such as, for example, smartphones, tablets,laptops, televisions, smart televisions, radios, digital videorecorders, digital media players, etc. In particular, AMEs want tomonitor media presentations made at the media devices to, among otherthings, determine ownership and/or usage statistics of media devices,relative rankings of usage and/or ownership of media devices, types ofuses of media devices (e.g., whether a device is used for browsing theInternet, streaming media from the Internet, etc.), other types of mediadevice information, and/or other monitoring information including, forexample, advertisements exposure, advertisement effectiveness, userbehavior, purchasing behavior associated with various demographics, etc.

Media watermarking (e.g., such as audio watermarking, videowatermarking, etc.) can be used to identify media, such as televisionbroadcasts, radio broadcasts, advertisements (television and/or radio),downloaded media, streaming media, prepackaged media, etc. Mediawatermarks, such as audio watermarks, are also extensively used in bothradio and television to identify the station or channel to which areceiver is tuned. Existing media watermarking techniques identify mediaby embedding one or more codes (e.g., one or more watermarks) conveyingmedia identifying information and/or an identifier that may be mapped tomedia identifying information, into an audio and/or video component ofthe media. In some examples, the audio or video component is selected tohave a signal characteristic sufficient to hide the watermark. Toidentify watermarked media, the watermark(s) are extracted and, forexample, decoded and/or used to access a table of reference watermarksthat are mapped to media identifying information.

As used herein, the term “media” refers to audio and/or visual (still ormoving) content and/or advertisements. Furthermore, as used herein, theterm “media” includes any type of content and/or advertisement deliveredvia any type of distribution medium. Thus, media includes televisionprogramming or advertisements, radio programming or advertisements,movies, web sites, streaming media, etc.

As used herein, the terms “code” and “watermark” are usedinterchangeably and are defined to mean any identification information(e.g., an identifier) that may be inserted or embedded in the audio orvideo of media (e.g., a program or advertisement) for the purpose ofidentifying the media or for another purpose, such as tuning (e.g., apacket identifying header), copyright protection, etc. In some examples,to identify watermarked media, the watermark(s) are extracted and, forexample, decoded and/or used to access a table of reference watermarksthat are mapped to media identifying information.

For example, audio watermarks may be embedded at a broadcast facilityand carry digital data in the form of symbols. In some applications,such as television audience measurement, a meter (also known as ametering device or media device meter) installed in a panelist’s homesenses or otherwise captures audio emanating from, for example, atelevision (TV) set and/or other media device(s). The meter performssignal processing operations on the audio to extract the watermarksymbols representing digital data. In some examples, the data bitsconveyed by the watermark symbols identify the TV station being receivedby the TV set, and may also represent a timestamp to further identifymedia (e.g., content and/or advertisements) being received. In the caseof radio audience measurement, as well as in some television audiencemeasurement examples, the meter may be a portable device carried or wornby the panelist to monitor media exposure in the home, as well as inother environments, such as an automobile. Media watermarks designed forradio broadcasts tend to be more robust than media watermarks designedfor television broadcasts because radio broadcasts are often heard inenvironments characterized by relatively high ambient acoustic noise,such as in vehicles. For example, the data packets of media watermarksfor radio broadcasts may be repeated multiple times to provideredundancy.

In the case of radio audience measurement, a widely used watermark isthe Critical Band Encoding Technology (CBET) watermark invented byJensen, et al. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,450,490 and 5,764,763. See also U.S.Pat. Nos. 6,845,360 and 6,871,180. In CBET watermarking, each datapacket includes 32 bits of which 16 bits are used for stationidentification and the remaining 16 bits are used for a timestamp. CBETwatermarking can also be used for television audience measurement.

CBET watermarks are constructed using symbols representing four bits ofdata. Each symbol is encoded in 400 milliseconds (ms) of host audio andis created by embedding a particular set of ten tones representing eachsymbol, with different sets of tones being used to represent differentsymbol values. Each tone belongs to a code band or frequency clump thatincludes several closely spaced frequencies of the audio. The code tonesare in the frequency range 1 kilohertz (kHz) to 3 kHz in the case ofCBET watermarking.

In some examples, to make these code tones imperceptible to the humanear, the amplitude of each of the tones is controlled by a “masking”energy offered by the host audio in a set of frequency bands (or codebands) in which these tones reside. Host audio that is rich in spectralenergy in these code bands will support higher code tone amplitudes dueto psycho-acoustic perception characteristics of the human ear. However,the masking characteristics do not remain constant across a 400 ms blockof audio. In some examples, the masking characteristics are recalculatedfrequently at intervals as short as 2 ms.

Even with the resulting amplitude modulation of the code tones, the codetones can be successfully detected by signal processing techniques usedfor watermark detection, such as a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)performed on an audio block of 256 milliseconds lying anywhere withinthe 400-millisecond block of audio to determine the respective energiesof the different frequencies, or tones, included in the audio. Each ofthe code tones included in the watermark symbol will tend to havesignificantly higher energy than other members of the code bandassociated with that tone. In some watermark detection procedures, theenergy of each potential code tone of the audio is normalized relativeto (e.g., divided by) the average energy in its code band. By adding thenormalized energy of the set of code tones (e.g., all the ten tones)representing a symbol, a strength metric (or, in other words, a strengthvalue) for the symbol may be determined. A winning symbol, representingthe decoded watermark symbol, may be selected by comparing the strengthmetrics of all potential symbols and selecting the winning symbol to bethe potential symbol with the largest strength metric. In some examples,the winning symbol is considered valid if its strength metric exceeds athreshold.

In radio audience measurement scenarios in which much of the listeningoccurs in a high ambient noise environment, such as a moving automobile,the energy of the embedded watermark tones is an important factor in thesuccessful detection of the watermarks. Spectrally rich content, such asmusic, typically contains more masking energy across the ten code bandsrelative to content consisting of speech. To allow for these variations,the watermarks are generally repeated multiple times. For example, theCBET watermark message includes twelve symbols and the total duration is12×0.4=4.8 seconds. In some such examples, the same watermark message,including station identification and timestamp, is repeated for anentire minute of audio. The detection process takes advantage of thisredundancy, namely, every 400 ms block that is separated in time by 4.8seconds is likely to carry the same symbol or, in other words, the sameset of ten tones. The watermark symbol tone energies can be summedacross blocks separated by 4.8 seconds to yield a significantly morerobust watermark decoding result. Thus, in some such examples, evenspectrally weak content, such as speech, yields a few detections everyminute.

Thus, in some examples, the CBET watermark detection process performedin a metering device involves analyzing a block of audio samplescorresponding to 256 ms to determine the presence of a valid CBETsymbol. In general, the 400 ms symbol block boundaries are not known tothe decoding process operating in the meter. Therefore, a scan operationthat includes sliding a 256 ms window across the audio stream may beperformed. This is usually performed in sliding increments that could beas large as 100 ms.

In some examples, an audio component of media (also referred to as thehost audio) can carry multiple watermarks, which overlap in time, usingfrequency multiplexing. For example, CBET watermarking supports fourlayers in which each layer uses distinct sets of code tones to representits associated symbols (e.g., with different layers using different setsof code tones). In some examples of CBET watermarking for radio, justone of these layers, which is called the local layer, is used forencoding watermarks. In some examples of CBET watermarking fortelevision, such as examples in which networks deliver programs to localaffiliates, two layers of watermarking, called the network layer and thelocal layer, are used for encoding watermarks.

In some examples, watermarks are embedded at the broadcaster, at thecontent origin, or at other intermediaries prior to media broadcast,streaming, or other means of delivery to the consumer (e.g. DVD) and itsfinal playback or rendering. This embedding can be done in the baseband,e.g. in pulse-code modulation (PCM) domain for audio signals.

New media compression standards are ever appearing. Significanttechnological and algorithmic problems are solved in order to embedwatermarks in the compressed media. In addition, watermarks, onceembedded, can be difficult to remove, overwrite, or alter, withoutdegrading the signal quality, e.g. audio fidelity. Furthermore,information payload for watermarks that are embedded at the broadcaster,at the content origin, or at other intermediaries prior rendering is thesame for all consumers of the same watermarked content, and cannotdiffer or be changed for individual end-points of the same mediaplayback. “End-point” refers to a point of rendering the media.

The example disclosed herein enable watermark generation at theend-point of media consumption, including, for example, at smartloudspeaker(s), smart display(s), and/or other capable renderingdevice(s) that can synthesize and mix watermarks on the fly (i.e.,dynamically and/or in real-time) during media playback. “Smart device,”“media rendering device,” “connected device,” and “playback device” areused interchangeably herein.

In some examples disclosed herein, watermark generation instructions orcode is installed on a media rendering device including a smart devicevia, for example, firmware, a software upgrade, or a built-in hardwarechip. In some examples, the watermark generation instructions or code isinstalled via a media watermarking device included in and/or added tothe media rendering device.

In some examples disclosed herein, analysis of the media is performed bythe media watermarking device in real-time, in order to determine thewatermark signal shaping for perceptually masking the watermark withminimal media quality loss.

The media watermarking device can, in some examples, execute watermarksignal generation appropriate for the content being played in real-time.Watermark signal can be in the baseband of the media signal, such as,for example, in the audio PCM domain.

Also, in some examples, the generated watermark has an informationpayload that can be defined dynamically or statically. For example, thepayload can be completely or partially determined by the media renderingor playback device itself. For example, the payload has a timestampvalue, device identifier, or other information available to the mediarendering device. In some examples, the payload can be pre-assigned bythe AME.

In some examples, the payload can be completely or partially determinedexternally, in real-time or otherwise, by (a) receiving the payloadinformation on a side-channel such as, for example, over the internet orother communication channel for a connected device synchronously orasynchronously with the content (i.e., the media), (b) extractingpayload information from metadata accompanying the media, and/or (c)building the payload from content recognition, such as, for example,when metadata is insufficient.

The command or trigger for initiating watermark insertion can come fromthe metadata accompanying the media, be embedded in the media, signaledover the internet or other communication channel, and/or started/stoppedby consumer, by the meter (e.g. in the room), and/or by the AME.

In some examples, watermark insertion is triggered by a meter. Forexample, a person, who may be a panelist for an AME, may have a meter ina room of their house and/or on their person. For example, the meter maybe a wearable device such as a portable people meter (PPM), smartphone,smartwatch, etc. The meter can provide signaling to an encoder in themeter watermarking device of the media rendering device. The signalingcould include a WIFI signal, a Bluetooth signal, an RF beacon, anacoustic signal, and/or a combination of signals. The signal indicatesthe presence of the meter, which initiates the watermark generation. Insome examples, the signal is a one-way signal from the meter to themedia rendering device.

Once triggered, the media rendering device mixes or otherwise adds thegenerated watermarks into rendering of the respective channels of mediasignals in real-time for playback. In some examples, the media signalsinto which watermarks are inserted include, for example, audio signals,video signals, images, printed media, tactile media, RF signals, or anyother type of media and/or signals in which insertion of animperceptible signal can be of benefit for audience measurement, mediarecognition, media identification, audience recognition, audienceidentification, forensic purposes, privacy purposes, ownershipidentification, tracking and/or any other purpose.

Some examples also include a feedback loop from the meter to the mediarendering device. The feedback delivered via the feedback loop can beused to adaptively change the level of encoding and/or othercharacteristics of a generated watermark. For example, watermarkgeneration can depend or change between different households ordifferent metering environment if a meter can signal the quality or somemeasure of the strengths of received watermarks.

With watermark insertion at the media rendering device, a household orother location can receive unaltered content or media from thebroadcast, streaming, and/or other distribution source. In someexamples, unaltered content includes less data and results in fastertransmission and/or downloading time.

FIG. 1 is an example environment 100 for end-point media watermarking inaccordance with the teachings of this disclosure. The exampleenvironment 100 represents portions of an example media monitoringsystem. The example environment 100 includes an example first household102 a, an example second household 102 b, an example third household 102c. In some examples, the example households may be example rooms orareas of one household. In other examples, the example households may bea place of business, a school, an outdoor area, a car, and/or othervenue or environment. The example first, second, and third households102 a-c of the illustrated example of FIG. 1 are locations where mediamonitoring is performed. For example, the first, second, and thirdhouseholds 102 a-c can be panelist households.

The example environment 100 also includes a plurality of example mediarendering devices that playback or otherwise present media and aredistributed throughout the environment 100 including, for example, anexample first television 104 a, an example digital video recorder 104 b,an example first radio 104 c, an example second television 104 d, anexample tablet 104 e, and an example second radio 104 f. Any number ortypes of media rendering devices or combination of devices may beincluded in the environment 100.

The example environment also includes example media device meters ormeters 106. The example meters 106 monitor media presentation on one ormore of the media presentation devices 104 a-f. The example meters 106of the illustrated example of FIG. 1 collect data pertaining to mediaconsumption in the respective first, second, and third households 102a-c. For example, there may be one meter 106 per household or room. Insome examples, the meters 106 include microphones, direct connections(e.g., data connections) to the respective media rendering devices 104a-f, wireless connections to the respective media rendering devices 104a-f cameras, and/or any other components to enable media monitoring. Insome examples, the meters 106 are directly wired or otherwise directlycommunicatively coupled connected to the respective media renderingdevices 104 a-f. In other examples, the meters 106 are coupled to one ormore of the media rendering devices 104 a-f via intermediary devicessuch as, for example, a set top box and/or an over-the-top device.

The example media rendering devices 104 a-f include a respective mediawatermarking device 108. In some examples, the media watermarking device108 includes hardware, firmware, and/or software. The meter watermarkingdevice 108 encodes media signals with watermarks at the point ofrendering the media. The media signals with the encoded watermarks arepresented via one or more of the media rendering devices 104 a-f.

The example meters 106 detect the media signals with the encodedwatermarks. The watermarks provide meter data. The meters 106 transmitthe meter data to an example AME 110, where the meter data can beprocessed for identification of the media.

The example AME 110 of the illustrated example of FIG. 1 is an entityresponsible for collecting media monitoring information. The example AME110 collects meter data from the first, second, and third households 102a-c. In some examples, the AME 110 is associated with one or morelocations (e.g., a central facility) where data is aggregated and/oranalyzed. The example AME 110 assesses the meter data and identify mediapresented on the media rendering devices 104 a-f. In response toidentifying the media (e.g. media presented on the media renderingdevices 104 a-f), the AME 108 can generate crediting data to creditpresentation of the identified media such as, for example, to includethe presentation of the identified media in a ratings determination.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a portion of the example system 100 of FIG.1 with the households 102 a-c and the media rendering devices 104 a-fremoved and with a focus on one of the example media watermarkingdevices 108 and one of the example meters 106 for clarity. As shown inFIG. 2 , the example system 100 includes the example meter 106, theexample media watermarking device 108, and the example AME 110. Themeter 106 includes an example transmitter 202 and an example watermarkdetector 204. The example media watermarking device 108 includes anexample media receiver 206, and example watermark payload extractor 208,an example watermark generator 210, and example encoder 212, an exampleclock 214, and an example trigger 216. The trigger 216 includes anexample command receiver 218 and an example meter detector 220. Themedia watermarking device 108 also includes an example database 222, anexample media output 224, and an example feedback receiver 226.

The media receiver 206 receives a media signal from, for example, amedia content provider, distributor, and/or other source of media.

In some examples, the media receiver 206 implements means for receivinga media signal. The receiving means may be implemented by a processorsuch as the processor 412 of FIG. 4 executing instructions such as theinstructions of FIG. 3 .

In some examples, the watermark payload extractor 208 analyzes the mediasignal to determine a watermark payload. In some examples, the watermarkpayload extractor 208 implements means for extracting a watermarkpayload. The extracting means may be implemented by a processor such asthe processor 412 of FIG. 4 executing instructions such as theinstructions of FIG. 3 .

The watermark payload extractor 208 may base the watermark payload onelements of the media carried by the media signal and/or characteristicsof the media signal such as, for example, program identificationinformation, program version information, broadcast information,channel, time, date, duration, etc. In some examples, the watermarkpayload extractor 208 bases the watermark payload on a characteristic ofthe structure and/or operating status of the rendering device 104 a-fsuch as, for example, a device identification such as serial or modelnumber, a device type, a volume status, a closed captioning status, auser name, user address, user demographic information, a location of thedevice, a movement of the device, etc. The watermark payload extractor208 can build or extract the watermark payload using any combination ofthis information and/or other types of information used to identifyaspects of the media presented and the device on which the media waspresented.

Also, in some examples, the watermark payload extractor 208 dynamicallyor statically defines the watermark payload. For example, the payloadcan be completely or partially determined by the media rendering device104 a-f itself via the watermark payload extractor 208 as noted above.Furthermore, in some examples, the watermark payload extractor 208builds the watermark payload by extracting the information used to buildthe watermark payload from metadata accompanying the media and/or bybuilding the payload from content recognition, such as, for example,when metadata is insufficient.

Also, in some examples, the watermark payload is determined by the AME110 or other external source and sent to the media watermarking device108. The AME 110 can determine the watermark payload in real-time or theAME 110 can transmit a pre-assigned watermark payload. The watermarkpayload extractor 208 receives the payload information on a side-channelsuch as, for example, over the internet or other communication channelfor a connected device synchronously or asynchronously with receipt ofthe content (i.e., the media) by the media receiver 206.

In some examples, the watermark payload may be a combination ofdynamically determined information and pre-determined information. Forexample, the watermark payload extractor 208 may determine the watermarkpayload via a combination of information provided externally by, forexample, the AME 110, and information determined internally within themedia watermarking device 108.

The watermark generator 210 also analyzes the media signal received atthe media receiver 206 and the payload extracted at or by the watermarkpayload extractor 208. In some examples, the watermark generator 210implements means for generating a watermark. The generating means may beimplemented by a processor such as the processor 412 of FIG. 4 executinginstructions such as the instructions of FIG. 3 .

The watermark generator 210 analyzes the media signal and the payload todetermine the watermark signal shaping for perceptually masking thewatermark within the media to obscure the watermark from humanperception with minimal loss to the quality of the media. The watermarkgenerator 210 generates the watermark based on the watermark payload andthe watermark signal shaping. In some examples disclosed herein,analysis of the media is performed by the watermark generator 210 inreal-time such that the watermark generator 210 generates watermarks formedia concurrently with playing or rendering of the media.

The encoder 212 synthesizes an encoded media signal by mixing, adding,and/or encoding the media signal with the watermark generated by thewatermark generator 210. In some examples, the encoder 212 implementsmeans for encoding a media signal. The encoding means may be implementedby a processor such as the processor 412 of FIG. 4 executinginstructions such as the instructions of FIG. 3 .

In some examples, the encoder 212 encodes the watermark into a basebandof the media signal such as, for example, in the audio PCM domain. Inother examples, the encoder 212 encodes the generated watermarks intoanother channel or combination of channels of the media signals forplayback.

The trigger 216 activates the creation of the watermark. Thus, in someexamples, the trigger 216 activates the watermark payload extractor 208to extract the watermark payload information and/or the watermarkgenerator 210 to generate the watermark and/or the encoder 212 to insertor encoded the media signal with the watermark. In some examples, thetrigger 216 implements means for activating the means for generating togenerate the watermark. The activating means may be implemented by aprocessor such as the processor 412 of FIG. 4 executing instructionssuch as the instructions of FIG. 3 .

In some examples, the trigger 216 activates the building, generation,and encoding of the watermark based on an external input. The trigger216 includes the command receiver 218 and the meter detector 220 toreceive or detect the external input. In some examples, the externalinput that causes the trigger 216 to activate is a command received bythe media watermarking device 108 from an outside entity including, forexample, from the AME 110. The command may be received over acommunication link, such as the internet, to the command receiver 218.In some examples, the AME 110 sends a command to cease watermark payloadextraction, watermark generation, and/or watermark encoding orinsertion.

In some examples, the command or trigger for initiating watermarkpayload extraction, watermark generation, and/or watermark encoding orinsertion can come from the metadata accompanying the media and/orotherwise be embedded in the media. In such examples, the commandreceiver 218, which is in communication with the media receiver 206,detects the command directly from the media signal.

In some examples, the external input that causes the trigger 216 toactivate is a detection of a presence of the meter 106 or otherwise asignal from the meter 106. For example, a person, who may be a panelistfor the AME 110 or other consumer, may have the meter 106 in a room oftheir house and/or the meter 106 may be a wearable meter that is worn ontheir person. In this example, the meter 106 provides signaling to theencoder 212 via the meter detector 220 of the trigger 216. The signalindicates the presence of the meter 106, which initiates the watermarkpayload extraction and/or the watermark generation. Such signal may bebroadcast, emitted, and/or presented from the transmitter 202 of themeter 106. In some examples, the signal of the presence of the meter 106is a signal indicating the physical proximity of the meter 106 and themedia rendering device 104 a-f. In some examples, the physical proximityis that the meter 106 and the media rendering device 104 a-f are in thesame room. In some examples, the signal is a one-way signal from themeter 106 to the watermarking device 108, which as disclosed withreference to FIG. 1 , may be incorporated the media rendering device 104a-f. In some examples, the panelist or consumer may start and/or stopthe meter 106 or a triggering signal from the meter, which is detectedby the meter detector 220 to start/stop watermark payload extraction,watermark generation, and/or watermark encoding or insertion.

In some examples, the AME 110 or other external entity can enablewatermarking of the media signal for a subset of panelists or consumers.The AME 110 may send a trigger signal through the command receiver 218and/or the AME 110, when in control of the meter 106, may configuresettings of the meter 106 remotely to cause the meter 106 to send atriggering signal to the meter detector 220. In these examples, the AME110 can activate watermark payload extraction, watermark generation,and/or watermark encoding or insertion for a subset of panelists bysending the trigger signal to only those panelists’ media watermarkingdevice 108. For example, the AME 110 may want to gather media monitoringinformation for a segment of the audience such as, for example, 25-45year panelists, and/or for an audience of particular program, and/or foran audience at a particular time of day, and/or other customizedaudience segments. This allows for reduced costs in media monitoringbecause only a portion of media watermarking devices 108 would operatein this scenario to activate watermark payload extraction, watermarkgeneration, and/or watermark encoding or insertion for media monitoring.

The clock 214 may be used to track the time since the trigger 216 hadbeen activated. In some examples, the trigger 216 is deactivated after aperiod of time after receipt of the external input. In other examples,the trigger 216 may be deactivated based on receipt of a deactivationsignal by the command receiver 218 and/or the lack of detection of themeter 106 by the meter detector 220.

The media watermarking device 108 also includes the database 222, whichcan store details of operation of the media watermarking device 108including, for example, the media signals, portions of the mediasignals, the watermark payload, any and/or all information used to buildthe watermark payload, the generated watermarks, the encoded mediasignals, received command, detected meters, logs of activity, etc.

The media output 224 renders the encoded media signal. For example, themedia output 224 sends the encoded media signal to the media renderingdevice 104 a-f for presentation to the panelist or other consumer. Insome examples, the media output 224 implements means for rendering theencoded media. The rendering means may be implemented by a processorsuch as the processor 412 of FIG. 4 executing instructions such as theinstructions of FIG. 3 .

The meter 106 also detects the encoded media signal output by the mediaoutput 224. The meter 106 includes the watermark detector 204 thatextracts, decodes, and/or determines the watermark inserted or encodedinto the media signal. The detected watermarks and/or informationextracted from the detected watermark may be communicated to the AME 110via, for example, the transmitter 202.

In addition, some examples also include a feedback loop from the meter106 to the media watermarking device 108. In some examples, the feedbackloop includes the transmitter 202 sending communications, i.e. feedback,to the feedback receiver 226 of the media watermarking device 108 basedon activity of the watermark detector 204. In some examples, thefeedback receiver 226 implements means for means for receiving feedbacksuch as, for example, a quality indicator. The receiving means may beimplemented by a processor such as the processor 412 of FIG. 4 executinginstructions such as the instructions of FIG. 3 .

The watermark generator 210 and/or the encoder 212 may adaptively changethe level of encoding based on the feedback delivered via the feedbackloop. For example, watermark generation can be customized for differenthouseholds or different metering environment based on the quality orother measure of the strengths of watermarks received by the meter 106.For example, the watermark detector 204 can establish a qualityindicator based on a level of watermarking detected by the meter 106. Insome examples, the quality indicator includes a value corresponding to asparsity of detected watermarks. For example, the watermark detector 204may set a quality indicator of Strength=0, if receiving or detecting nowatermarks. The watermark detector 204 can set a quality indicator ofStrength = 1, if receiving or detecting only very sparse watermarks. Thewatermark detector 204, if receiving or detecting sufficient number ofwatermarks, could set a quality indicator of Strength = 2. In otherexamples, other numbers, scales, or values may be used. Also, in someexamples, the quality indicator may be based on an amplitude or strengthof a detected watermark. In some examples, the quality indicator may bebased on a level or amount of a detected watermark that is decipherable.Other features of the watermarks and/or corresponding media signal suchas, for example noise, may be used alternatively to or in combinationwith these features of the watermarks in assessing and assigning aquality indicator to the watermarks. The transmitter 202 sends thequality indicators to the feedback receiver 226.

Upon receiving the quality indicators, the feedback receiver 226 candetermine if a threshold level of quality has been met. For example, ifthe threshold quality is a Strength of 1.5, and the watermark detector204 indicates a quality of watermarks detected in the encoded mediasignal of Strength = 2, then the quality satisfies the threshold. Inthis example, the encoder 212 continues encoding in the same manner thatsatisfies the threshold.

In another example, if the threshold quality is a Strength of 1.5, andthe watermark detector 204 indicates a quality of watermarks detected inthe encoded media signal of Strength = 1, then the quality does notsatisfy the threshold. In this example, the encoder 212 can adjust thelevel of encoding appropriately. For example, the encoder 212 can encodea greater frequency of watermarks in the media signal. In anotherexample, the encoder 212 can encode watermarks with larger amplitudes toenhance the detection of the watermarks. In another example, the encoder212 can encode watermarks in one or more other channels of the mediasignal. Thus, the encoder 212 can modify the encoded media signal basedon the quality indicator.

While an example manner of implementing the meters 106 and the mediawatermarking devices 108 of FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIG. 2 , one ormore of the elements, processes and/or devices illustrated in FIG. 2 maybe combined, divided, re-arranged, omitted, eliminated, and/orimplemented in any other way. Further, the example media receiver 206,the example watermark payload extractor 208, the example watermarkgenerator 210, the example encoder 212, the example clock 214, theexample trigger 216, the example command receiver 218, the example meterdetector 220, the example database 222, the example media output 224,the example feedback receiver 226, the example transmitter 202, theexample watermark detector 204, and/or, more generally, the examplemeter 106 and/or the example media watermarking device 108 of FIG. 2 maybe implemented by hardware, software, firmware, and/or any combinationof hardware, software and/or firmware. Thus, for example, any of theexample media receiver 206, the example watermark payload extractor 208,the example watermark generator 210, the example encoder 212, theexample clock 214, the example trigger 216, the example command receiver218, the example meter detector 220, the example database 222, theexample media output 224, the example feedback receiver 226, the exampletransmitter 202, the example watermark detector 204, and/or, moregenerally, the example meter 106 and/or the example media watermarkingdevice 108 could be implemented by one or more analog or digitalcircuit(s), logic circuits, programmable processor(s), programmablecontroller(s), graphics processing unit(s) (GPU(s)), digital signalprocessor(s) (DSP(s)), application specific integrated circuit(s)(ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)), and/or fieldprogrammable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any of theapparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the example, mediareceiver 206, the example watermark payload extractor 208, the examplewatermark generator 210, the example encoder 212, the example clock 214,the example trigger 216, the example command receiver 218, the examplemeter detector 220, the example database 222, the example media output224, the example feedback receiver 226, the example transmitter 202, theexample watermark detector 204, the example meter 106, and/or theexample media watermarking device 108 is/are hereby expressly defined toinclude a non-transitory computer readable storage device or storagedisk such as a memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk(CD), a Blu-ray disk, etc. including the software and/or firmware.Further still, the example media receiver 206, the example watermarkpayload extractor 208, the example watermark generator 210, the exampleencoder 212, the example clock 214, the example trigger 216, the examplecommand receiver 218, the example meter detector 220, the exampledatabase 222, the example media output 224, the example feedbackreceiver 226, the example transmitter 202, the example watermarkdetector 204, the example meter 106, and/or the example mediawatermarking device 108 of FIG. 2 may include one or more elements,processes, and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, thoseillustrated in FIG. 2 , and/or may include more than one of any or allof the illustrated elements, processes, and devices. As used herein, thephrase “in communication,” including variations thereof, encompassesdirect communication and/or indirect communication through one or moreintermediary components, and does not require direct physical (e.g.,wired) communication and/or constant communication, but ratheradditionally includes selective communication at periodic intervals,scheduled intervals, aperiodic intervals, and/or one-time events.

A flowchart representative of example hardware logic, machine readableinstructions, hardware implemented state machines, and/or anycombination thereof for implementing the media watermarking device 108of FIG. 2 is shown in FIG. 3 . The machine readable instructions may beone or more executable programs or portion(s) of an executable programfor execution by a computer processor such as the processor 412 shown inthe example processor platform 400 discussed below in connection withFIG. 4 . The program may be embodied in software stored on anon-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, afloppy disk, a hard drive, a DVD, a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associatedwith the processor 412, but the entire program and/or parts thereofcould alternatively be executed by a device other than the processor 412and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further, although theexample program is described with reference to the flowchart illustratedin FIG. 3 , many other methods of implementing the example mediawatermarking device 108 may alternatively be used. For example, theorder of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of theblocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined. Additionallyor alternatively, any or all of the blocks may be implemented by one ormore hardware circuits (e.g., discrete and/or integrated analog and/ordigital circuitry, an FPGA, an ASIC, a comparator, anoperational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.) structured toperform the corresponding operation without executing software orfirmware.

The machine readable instructions described herein may be stored in oneor more of a compressed format, an encrypted format, a fragmentedformat, a packaged format, etc. Machine readable instructions asdescribed herein may be stored as data (e.g., portions of instructions,code, representations of code, etc.) that may be utilized to create,manufacture, and/or produce machine executable instructions. Forexample, the machine readable instructions may be fragmented and storedon one or more storage devices and/or computing devices (e.g., servers).The machine readable instructions may require one or more ofinstallation, modification, adaptation, updating, combining,supplementing, configuring, decryption, decompression, unpacking,distribution, reassignment, etc. in order to make them directly readableand/or executable by a computing device and/or other machine. Forexample, the machine readable instructions may be stored in multipleparts, which are individually compressed, encrypted, and stored onseparate computing devices, wherein the parts when decrypted,decompressed, and combined form a set of executable instructions thatimplement a program such as that described herein. In another example,the machine readable instructions may be stored in a state in which theymay be read by a computer, but require addition of a library (e.g., adynamic link library (DLL)), a software development kit (SDK), anapplication programming interface (API), etc. in order to execute theinstructions on a particular computing device or other device. Inanother example, the machine readable instructions may need to beconfigured (e.g., settings stored, data input, network addressesrecorded, etc.) before the machine readable instructions and/or thecorresponding program(s) can be executed in whole or in part. Thus, thedisclosed machine readable instructions and/or corresponding program(s)are intended to encompass such machine readable instructions and/orprogram(s) regardless of the particular format or state of the machinereadable instructions and/or program(s) when stored or otherwise at restor in transit.

As mentioned above, the example process of FIG. 3 may be implementedusing executable instructions (e.g., computer and/or machine readableinstructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and/or machinereadable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, a read-onlymemory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, arandom-access memory and/or any other storage device or storage disk inwhich information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended timeperiods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering,and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the termnon-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to includeany type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and toexclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media.

“Including” and “comprising” (and all forms and tenses thereof) are usedherein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim employs any formof “include” or “comprise” (e.g., comprises, includes, comprising,including, having, etc.) as a preamble or within a claim recitation ofany kind, it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc.may be present without falling outside the scope of the correspondingclaim or recitation. As used herein, when the phrase “at least” is usedas the transition term in, for example, a preamble of a claim, it isopen-ended in the same manner as the term “comprising” and “including”are open ended. The term “and/or” when used, for example, in a form suchas A, B, and/or C refers to any combination or subset of A, B, C such as(1) A alone, (2) B alone, (3) C alone, (4) A with B, (5) A with C, (6) Bwith C, and (7) A with B and with C. As used herein in the context ofdescribing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, thephrase “at least one of A and B” is intended to refer to implementationsincluding any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) atleast one A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the contextof describing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, thephrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer to implementationsincluding any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) atleast one A and at least one B. As used herein in the context ofdescribing the performance or execution of processes, instructions,actions, activities and/or steps, the phrase “at least one of A and B”is intended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at leastone A, (2) at least one B, and (3) at least one A and at least one B.Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing the performanceor execution of processes, instructions, actions, activities and/orsteps, the phrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer toimplementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B,and (3) at least one A and at least one B.

The example program 300 of FIG. 3 includes instructions related to theoperation of the media watermarking device 108. In the program 300, themedia receiver 206 receives a media signal (block 302). The trigger 216determines if watermark generation has been triggered (block 304). Forexample, the trigger 216 determines if an external input promptingwatermark generation has been received. In some examples, the commandreceiver 218 receives a command such as, for example, a command from anAME to initiate watermark generation. In other examples, the meterdetector 220 receives a signal from the meter 106 or detects thepresence of the meter 106, which initiates watermark generation.

If the trigger 216 determines that watermark generation has not beentriggered (block 304), the program 300 returns to block 302 with themedia receiver 206 receiving the media signal or another media signal.

If the trigger 216 determines that watermark generation has beentriggered (block 304), the watermark payload extractor 208 extractspayload details for the watermark (block 306). In some examples, thewatermark payload extractor 308 receives the payload from an externalsource such as, for example, the AME 110. Also in some examples, thepayload is extracted from the media signal, the media watermarkingdevice 108, and/or the rendering device 104 a-f. In some examples, thewatermark payload extractor pulls and/or receives the payload from acombination of sources including dynamically determined informationand/or pre-determined information.

The program 300 also includes the watermark generator 210 generating thewatermark (block 308) based on the payload. The watermark generator 210generates the watermark by analyzing the media signal and the payloadand determining characteristics of the watermark signal shaping to maskthe watermark within the media. The watermark is masked in the mediasuch that the watermark is not perceivable by a human and/or does notdegrade the quality or playback of the media once encoded with thewatermark.

The encoder 212 synthesizes an encoded media signal (block 310) bymixing, adding, and/or encoding the media signal with the watermarkgenerated by the watermark generator 210.

The media output 224 renders or outputs the encoded media signal (block310). For example, the media output 224 sends, broadcasts, transmits,and/or communicates the encoded media signal to one or more of the mediarendering device(s) 104 a-f for presentation to the panelist or otherconsumer.

The example program 300 also includes a feedback loop from the meter 106to the media watermarking device 108. For example, the feedback receiver226 determines if feedback has been received from the watermark detector204 of the meter 106 indicative of the watermark quality (block 314). Iffeedback has not been received (block 314), the media output 224determines if there is more of the media signal to output (block 316).If there is more media signal to output, the media output 224 continuesto output the encoded media signal (block 312). If the media output 224determines that there is no more of the media signal to output (block316), the program continues with the media receiver 206 receiving amedia signal (block 302).

In some examples, the feedback receiver 226 determines that feedbackrelated to watermark quality has been received (block 314). For example,the watermark detector 204, which decodes the media signal communicatedby the media output 224, and extracts the watermark may assign a qualityindicator related to the watermarks. The quality indicator may bequalitative and/or quantitative. For example, the quality indicator mayinclude a value corresponding to a level of detected watermarks. Thelevel of detected watermarks corresponds to a number of detectedwatermarks, which indicates how sparsely detected or abundantly detectedthe watermarks are. For example, the quality indicator maybe Strength=0when the watermark detector 204 detects no watermarks, Strength = 1 whenwatermarks are sparsely or infrequently detected, Strength = 2 whenwatermarks are sufficiently or abundantly detected. In other examples,other numbers, scales, or values may be used. In addition, otherqualities of the watermark and/or associated media signal may be used inthe assignment of a quality indicator.

The feedback receiver 226 determines the quality of the watermarksatisfies a threshold level of quality (block 318). For example, if thethreshold quality is a Strength of 1.5, and the feedback receiver 226receives a watermark quality indicator of Strength = 2, then the qualitysatisfies the threshold. If the feedback receiver 226 determines thequality of the watermark satisfies a threshold level of quality (block318), the media output 224 determines if there is more of the mediasignal to output (block 316). If there is more media signal to output,the media output 224 continues to output the encoded media signal (block312) in the same manner of encoding that satisfies the threshold. If themedia output 224 determines that there is no more of the media signal tooutput (block 316), the program continues with the media receiver 206receiving a media signal (block 302).

In another example, if the threshold quality is a Strength of 1.5, andthe feedback receiver 226 receives a watermark quality indicator ofStrength = 1, then the quality does not satisfy the threshold. If thefeedback receiver 226 determines the quality of the watermark does notsatisfy a threshold level of quality (block 318), the encoder 212adjusts or modifies the level of encoding (block 320). For example, theencoder 212 can adjust frequency or amplitudes of watermarks in themedia signal.

With the level of encoding modified by the encoder (block 320), themedia output 224 determines if there is more of the media signal tooutput (block 322). If there is more media signal to output, the encoder212 synthesizes the encoded media in accordance with the modified levelof encoding (block 310), and the program 300 continues with the mediaoutput 224 outputting the encoded media signal (block 312). If the mediaoutput 224 determines that there is no more of the media signal tooutput (block 322), the program continues with the media receiver 206receiving a media signal (block 302).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 400structured to execute the instructions of FIG. 3 to implement the mediawatermarking device 108 of FIGS. 1 and 2 . The processor platform 400can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, a workstation, aself-learning machine (e.g., a neural network), a mobile device (e.g., acell phone, a smart phone, a tablet such as an iPad™), a personaldigital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, a DVD player, a CDplayer, a digital video recorder, a Blu-ray player, a gaming console, apersonal video recorder, a set top box, a headset or other wearabledevice, or any other type of computing device.

The processor platform 400 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 412. The processor 412 of the illustrated example is hardware.For example, the processor 412 can be implemented by one or moreintegrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors, GPUs, DSPs, orcontrollers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardwareprocessor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. Inthis example, the processor 412 implements the media receiver 206, thewatermark payload extractor 208, the watermark generator 210, theencoder 212, the clock 214, the trigger 216, the command receiver 218,the meter detector 220, the media output 224, and the feedback receiver226.

The processor 412 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 222(e.g., a cache). The processor 412 of the illustrated example is incommunication with a main memory including a volatile memory 414 and anon-volatile memory 416 via a bus 418. The volatile memory 414 may beimplemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), DynamicRandom Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS® Dynamic Random Access Memory(RDRAM®), and/or any other type of random access memory device. Thenon-volatile memory 416 may be implemented by flash memory and/or anyother desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 414, 416is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 400 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 420. The interface circuit 420 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, auniversal serial bus (USB), a Bluetooth® interface, a near fieldcommunication (NFC) interface, and/or a PCI express interface.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 422 are connectedto the interface circuit 420. The input device(s) 422 permit(s) a userto enter data and/or commands into the processor 412. The inputdevice(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, amicrophone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, atouchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, isopoint, and/or a voicerecognition system.

One or more output devices 424 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 420 of the illustrated example. The output devices 424 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emittingdiode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT) display, an in-place switching(IPS) display, a touchscreen, etc.), a tactile output device, a printer,and/or speaker. The interface circuit 420 of the illustrated example,thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip,and/or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 420 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and/or a networkinterface to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g.,computing devices of any kind) via a network 406. The communication canbe via, for example, an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line(DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, asatellite system, a line-of-site wireless system, a cellular telephonesystem, etc.

The processor platform 400 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 428 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 428 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, redundantarray of independent disks (RAID) systems, and digital versatile disk(DVD) drives.

The machine executable instructions 432, 300 of FIG. 3 may be stored inthe mass storage device 428, in the volatile memory 414, in thenon-volatile memory 416, and/or on a removable non-transitory computerreadable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 500structured to execute the instructions to implement the meter 106 ofFIGS. 1 and 2 . The processor platform 400 can be, for example, aserver, a personal computer, a workstation, a self-learning machine(e.g., a neural network), a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smartphone, a tablet such as an iPad™), a PDA, an Internet appliance, a DVDplayer, a CD player, a digital video recorder, a Blu-ray player, agaming console, a personal video recorder, a set top box, a headset orother wearable device, or any other type of computing device.

The processor platform 500 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 512. The processor 512 of the illustrated example is hardware.For example, the processor 512 can be implemented by one or moreintegrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors, GPUs, DSPs, orcontrollers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardwareprocessor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. Inthis example, the processor 512 implements the watermark detector 204.

The processor 512 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 513(e.g., a cache). The processor 512 of the illustrated example is incommunication with a main memory including a volatile memory 514 and anon-volatile memory 516 via a bus 518. The volatile memory 514 may beimplemented by SDRAM, DRAM, RDRAM®, and/or any other type of randomaccess memory device. The non-volatile memory 516 may be implemented byflash memory and/or any other desired type of memory device. Access tothe main memory 514, 516 is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 500 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 520. The interface circuit 520 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, a USB, aBluetooth® interface, an NFC interface, and/or a PCI express interface.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 522 are connectedto the interface circuit 520. The input device(s) 522 permit(s) a userto enter data and/or commands into the processor 512. The inputdevice(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, amicrophone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, atouchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, isopoint, and/or a voicerecognition system.

One or more output devices 202, 524 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 520 of the illustrated example. The output devices 524 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices an LED, an OLED, an LCD, aCRT display, an IPS display, a touchscreen, etc.), a tactile outputdevice, a printer, and/or speaker. The interface circuit 520 of theillustrated example, thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, agraphics driver chip, and/or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 520 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and/or a networkinterface to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g.,computing devices of any kind) via a network 506. The communication canbe via, for example, an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line(DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, asatellite system, a line-of-site wireless system, a cellular telephonesystem, etc.

The processor platform 500 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 528 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 528 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, RAIDsystems, and DVD drives.

The machine executable instructions 532 for operating the meter 106 maybe stored in the mass storage device 528, in the volatile memory 514, inthe non-volatile memory 516, and/or on a removable non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that example apparatus,devices, systems, articles of manufacture, and methods have beendisclosed that enable watermark generation at the end-point of mediaconsumption. The media rendering devices disclosed herein synthesize andmix or encode watermarks dynamically and/or in real-time or otherwise atthe end point, which allows for custom watermark generation andinsertions. The custom watermarks can provide more robust and detailedinformation about the consumer of the media rendered at these devicesand more detailed information about the rendering of the media.Watermarks that are encoded prior to broadcast or transmission to anend-point of media consumption are static and may not include dataspecific to the consumption environment or the consumer. The detailedinformation provided by the end-point watermarking disclosed herein ismore valuable to advertisers and media content producers.

In addition, example apparatus, devices, systems, articles ofmanufacture, and methods have been disclosed that enable selecttriggering of watermark generation and encoding into media. The selecttriggering of watermark generation can occur through commands receivedfrom an AME or other entity and/or via meter detection when a meter isin proximity to a rendering device. Select triggering of watermarkimproves the efficiency of a computing system because less resources areused in comparison to wide-spread watermark generation. In addition,less data is transmitted because fewer watermarks are generated.Furthermore, fewer computing resources are needed to review and analyzethe meter data gathered from the generated watermarks because a morefocused batch of watermarks are generated in accordance with the selecttriggering. For example an AME wanting media consumption data for asubset of households (e.g., households matching a select demographicprofile) can selectively trigger watermark generation for the subset ofhouseholds. A wide-scale watermark generation is avoided in thisexample. In addition, the AME will obtain the results of the selectwatermark generation and save the resources otherwise needed to sort andanalyze batches of meter and watermark data to obtain the data relatedto the selected subset.

In addition, example apparatus, devices, systems, articles ofmanufacture, and methods have been disclosed that enable immediate andproximate feedback of the quality of the watermark. The feedback loopdisclosed herein enables the watermark generation and encoding levels tobe adaptively changed dynamically and in real-time. Thus, the feedbackdisclosed herein enables customization of watermarks based on household,metering environment, metering equipment, media rendering devicecharacteristics, etc. The feedback also enables the changing ofwatermark generation and encoding levels to enhance the detectability ofthe watermarks and the data gathering associated therewith.

Furthermore, with watermark insertion at the media rendering device, theconsumers can receive unaltered content or media from the broadcast,streaming, and/or other distribution source. Where the unaltered contentincludes less data, the transmission and/or downloading time isdecreases, which enhances the consumer experience. The decrease intransmission data also lowers bandwidth traffic. Thus, the disclosedapparatus, devices, systems, articles of manufacture, and methods areaccordingly directed to one or more improvement(s) in the functioningcomputing and/or communication systems.

Apparatus, systems, methods, and articles of manufacture related toend-point media watermarking are disclosed. An example device includes amedia receiver to receive a media signal, a watermark generator togenerate a watermark, a trigger to activate the watermark generator togenerate the watermark based on an external input, an encoder to encodethe media signal with the watermark to synthesize an encoded mediasignal, a media output to render the encoded media signal.

In some examples, the external input is a command received by the deviceover a communication link.

In some examples, the command is received from an audience measuremententity.

In some examples, the external input is a detection of a presence of ameter.

In some examples, the meter is a wearable meter.

In some examples, the trigger is to deactivate the watermark generatorafter a period of time after receipt of the external input.

In some examples, the example device also includes a feedback receiverto receive a quality indicator based on a level of watermarking detectedby a meter.

In some examples, the encoder is to modify the encoded media signalbased on the quality indicator.

In some examples, the quality indicator includes a value correspondingto a sparsity of detected watermarks and the encoder is to change alevel of watermark encoding based on the value.

In some examples, the example device includes a watermark payloadextractor to determine a watermark payload, the watermark payload basedon a characteristic of the device.

Also disclosed is an example non-transitory computer readable mediumcomprising computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause oneor more processors to, at least: generate a watermark in a mediarendering device, the watermark to be generated for a media signalreceived by the media rendering device, the watermark generationtriggered by an external input to the media rendering device; encode themedia signal with the watermark to synthesize an encoded media signal;and present the encoded media signal to a user from the media renderingdevice.

In some examples, the example instructions further cause the one or moreprocessors to deactivate the watermark generation after a period of timeafter receipt of the external input.

In some examples, the example instructions further cause the one or moreprocessors to receive a quality indicator based on a level ofwatermarking detected by a meter.

In some examples, the example instructions further cause the one or moreprocessors to modify the encoded media signal based on the qualityindicator.

In some examples, the quality indicator includes a value correspondingto a sparsity of detected watermarks and the instructions cause the oneor more processors to change a level of watermark encoding based on thevalue.

In some examples, the example instructions further cause the one or moreprocessors to determine a watermark payload, the watermark payload basedon a characteristic of the media rendering device.

Also disclosed herein is an example device that includes means forreceiving a media signal; means for generating a watermark; means foractivating the means for generating to generate the watermark based onan external input; means for an encoding the media signal with thewatermark to synthesize an encoded media signal; and means for renderingthe encoded media signal.

In some examples, the means for activating is to deactivate the meansfor generating after a period of time after receipt of the externalinput.

In some examples, the example device also includes means for receiving aquality indicator based on a level of watermarking detected by a meter.

In some examples, the means for encoding is to modify the encoded mediasignal based on the quality indicator.

In some examples, the quality indicator includes a value correspondingto a sparsity of detected watermarks and the means for encoding is tochange a level of watermark encoding based on the value.

In some examples, the example device also includes means for extractinga watermark payload, the watermark payload based on a characteristic ofthe device.

Also disclosed herein is an example method for watermarking media at apoint of rendering the media. The example method includes: generating,by executing instructions with a processor, a watermark in a mediarendering device, the watermark to be generated for a media signalreceived by the media rendering device, the watermark generationtriggered by an external input to the media rendering device; encoding,by executing instructions with the processor, the media signal with thewatermark to synthesize an encoded media signal; and presenting, byexecuting instructions with the processor, the encoded media signal to auser from the media rendering device.

In some examples, the example method includes deactivating, by executinginstructions with the processor, the generating of the watermark after aperiod of time after receipt of the external input.

In some examples, the example method includes receiving, by executinginstructions with the processor, a quality indicator based on a level ofwatermarking detected by a meter.

In some examples, the example method includes modifying, by executinginstructions with the processor, the encoded media signal based on thequality indicator.

In some examples, the quality indicator includes a value correspondingto a sparsity of detected watermarks, and the example method furtherincluding changing, by executing instructions with the processor, alevel of watermark encoding based on the value.

In some examples, the example method includes determining a watermarkpayload, the watermark payload based on a characteristic of the mediarendering device.

Also disclosed herein is an example apparatus that includes memoryincluding machine reachable instructions; and processor circuitry toexecute the instructions to: generate a watermark in a media renderingdevice, the watermark to be generated for a media signal received by themedia rendering device, the watermark generation triggered by anexternal input to the media rendering device; encode the media signalwith the watermark to synthesize an encoded media signal; and presentthe encoded media signal to a user from the media rendering device.

In some examples, the processor circuitry is to deactivate the watermarkgeneration after a period of time after receipt of the external input.

In some examples, the processor circuitry is to receive a qualityindicator based on a level of watermarking detected by a meter.

In some examples, the processor circuitry is to modify the encoded mediasignal based on the quality indicator.

In some examples, the quality indicator includes a value correspondingto a sparsity of detected watermarks and the processor circuitry is tochange a level of watermark encoding based on the value.

In some examples, the processor circuitry is to determine a watermarkpayload, the watermark payload based on a characteristic of the mediarendering device.

Also disclosed herein is an example system to watermark media at a pointof rendering the media. The example system includes a meter including atransmitter to broadcast a presence of the meter; and a mediawatermarking device. The media watermarking device includes a mediareceiver to receive a media signal, a watermark generator to generate awatermark, a trigger to activate the watermark generator to generate thewatermark based on a detected presence of the meter, an encoder toencode the media signal with the watermark to synthesize an encodedmedia signal, and a media output to render the encoded media signal.

In some examples, the meter and the media rendering device are inphysical proximity.

In some examples, the meter and the media rendering device are in thesame room.

In some examples, the trigger is to deactivate the watermark generatorafter a period of time after detection of the presence of the meter.

In some examples, the meter includes a watermark detector to detect thewatermarks in the encoded media signal.

In some examples, the meter transmits a quality indicator based on alevel of watermarking detected, and the media rendering device includesa feedback receiver to receive the quality indicator.

In some examples, the encoder is to modify the encoded media signalbased on the quality indicator.

In some examples, the quality indicator includes a value correspondingto a sparsity of detected watermarks and the encoder is to change alevel of watermark encoding based on the value.

In some examples, the media rendering device further includes awatermark payload extractor to determine a watermark payload, thewatermark payload based on a characteristic of the device.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacturehave been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is notlimited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope ofthe claims of this patent.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device comprising: a media receiver to receivea media signal; a watermark generator to generate a watermark; a triggerto activate the watermark generator to generate the watermark based onan external input; an encoder to encode the media signal with thewatermark to synthesize an encoded media signal; and a media output torender the encoded media signal.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein theexternal input is a command received by the device over a communicationlink.
 3. The device of claim 2, wherein the command is received from anaudience measurement entity.
 4. The device of claim 1, wherein theexternal input is a detection of a presence of a meter.
 5. The device ofclaim 4, wherein the meter is a wearable meter.
 6. The device of claim1, wherein the trigger is to deactivate the watermark generator after aperiod of time after receipt of the external input.
 7. The device ofclaim 1 further including a feedback receiver to receive a qualityindicator based on a level of watermarking detected by a meter.
 8. Thedevice of claim 7, wherein the encoder is to modify the encoded mediasignal based on the quality indicator.
 9. The device of claim 7, whereinthe quality indicator includes a value corresponding to a sparsity ofdetected watermarks and the encoder is to change a level of watermarkencoding based on the value.
 10. The device of claim 1, furtherincluding a watermark payload extractor to determine a watermarkpayload, the watermark payload based on a characteristic of the device.11. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computerreadable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processorsto, at least: generate a watermark in a media rendering device, thewatermark to be generated for a media signal received by the mediarendering device, the watermark generation triggered by an externalinput to the media rendering device; encode the media signal with thewatermark to synthesize an encoded media signal; and present the encodedmedia signal to a user from the media rendering device.
 12. The computerreadable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause theone or more processors to deactivate the watermark generation after aperiod of time after receipt of the external input.
 13. The computerreadable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause theone or more processors to receive a quality indicator based on a levelof watermarking detected by a meter.
 14. The computer readable medium ofclaim 13, wherein the instructions further cause the one or moreprocessors to modify the encoded media signal based on the qualityindicator.
 15. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein thequality indicator includes a value corresponding to a sparsity ofdetected watermarks and the instructions cause the one or moreprocessors to change a level of watermark encoding based on the value.16. A device comprising: means for receiving a media signal; means forgenerating a watermark; means for activating the means for generating togenerate the watermark based on an external input; means for encodingthe media signal with the watermark to synthesize an encoded mediasignal; and means for rendering the encoded media signal.
 17. The deviceof claim 16, wherein the means for activating is to deactivate the meansfor generating after a period of time after receipt of the externalinput.
 18. The device of claim 16, further including means for receivinga quality indicator based on a level of watermarking detected by ameter.
 19. The device of claim 18, wherein the means for encoding is tomodify the encoded media signal based on the quality indicator.
 20. Thedevice of claim 18, wherein the quality indicator includes a valuecorresponding to a sparsity of detected watermarks and the means forencoding is to change a level of watermark encoding based on the value.